Republicans Trashing Conservatives

Holding a conservative point of view in politics is
no crime in America. No one should be demonized for honestly held conservative
beliefs.

That is why Republicans are absolutely wrong to
trash a Madison judge who, acting with judicial integrity, ruled Wisconsin
legislators should abide by state law even if they are Republicans.

No matter what our personal political beliefs may
be, we should want our judges to be conservative. We want them to enforce the law
based on its clear intent, not as part of some partisan political scheme.

That's exactly what Dane County Circuit Court Judge
Maryann Sumi did when she issued a temporary restraining order halting
Republican Scott Walker's law to destroy collective bargaining rights for
public employees in Wisconsin.

Sumi, originally appointed by Republican Gov. Tommy
Thompson, was asked to enforce the state's open meetings law, which states that
"public notice of every meeting of a governmental body shall be given at least
24 hours prior to the commencement of such meeting unless for good cause such
notice is impossible or impractical..."

At issue was a meeting of the Legislature's
conference committee hastily called with less than two hours' notice and held
minutes before the state Senate, with only Republicans present, passed a
revised conference committee bill destroying union rights.

Those facts were never really disputed.

Nor the fact that the conference committee was a
closed session taking place after hours in a small committee room that would
not have accommodated the enormous crowd demonstrating outside even if the
public had been allowed into the Capitol, which it wasn't.

Sumi took note of the strong public interest in the
Republicans' action, including three weeks of public demonstrations by tens of
thousands of citizens in the galleries and halls of the Capitol and on the
streets outside.

Sumi quoted a Wisconsin Supreme Court decision
mandating open government under both the law and the state Constitution. The Supreme
Court said it was particularly important that government meetings be held "in
full view of the community" during times of great controversy.

Is GOP Above the Law?

With the law so crystal clear, there never should
have been any question about the outcome.

But it turns out Republicans don't want conservative
judges who follow the law. They want dishonest judges who will twist the law so
Republicans win whether they abide by the law or not.

That is a whole new definition of law and order.
They want judges as willing to break the law as Walker and Republican
legislators.

That is why using the term "conservative" to
describe the current majorities on both the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the
U.S. Supreme Court is a complete misnomer.

It is really an insult to conservatives. There is
absolutely nothing about holding conservative political beliefs that should
suggest intellectual dishonesty.

Yet that is what the right-wing extremists who have
taken over today's Republican Party want from their judges. They want judges to
ignore the law so Republicans can do whatever they want to strip citizens of
rights that have existed for decades.

That is what is going to make it very interesting if
Judge Sumi's order halting Walker's law to destroy collective bargaining rights
is appealed by Republicans to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Because the Legislature's actions were so brazenly
illegal, such an appeal would demonstrate for all to see whether the majority
on the court is truly conservative or simply public frauds who are willing to
let fellow Republicans get away with anything, regardless of the law.

The last person who wants the court to be thrust
into the middle of this controversy is Justice David Prosser, the former
Republican Assembly speaker, who is running for re-election to the court April
5.

Serious questions already have been raised about
Prosser's fitness to serve on the court. Prosser's campaign publicly announced
he was running to "complement" the administration of Walker and legislative
Republicans.

That is not the job of any member of the court. The
court is an independent branch of government responsible for making its
decisions based upon the law, not partisan politics.

Now we learn Prosser disrupted deliberations on the
court by screaming at Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson that she was "a total
bitch" and threatening to "destroy" her.

When the ugly incident became public, Prosser blamed
Abrahamson and another female justice on the court, Ann Walsh Bradley, for
"goading people into perhaps incautious statements."

It's a novel defense for jerks who disrespect and
verbally abuse female professional colleagues: The she-devils made me do it.

It must infuriate Prosser that his opponent is
another highly qualified woman without his obvious judicial shortcomings.

JoAnne Kloppenburg, having served as an assistant
attorney general for 20 years under both Republicans and Democrats, is running
to restore legal integrity to the court.

If "conservative" means anything anymore, it should
mean respecting the law.

"They want dishonest judges who will twist the law so Republicans win whether they abide by the law or not." What? Really? But it would ok if the Democrat judges twisted the law so the liberals win, right? Look, if you don't like it, vote for someone else next time. The good people voted for Walker and his cronies. If they are so bad why not just let mess up so they get voted out next time. I think what the liberal facists are worried about is that Walker and gang will be successful. This is war with the unions and welfare types out to destroy the conservative middle and upper class. If we need a few judges in our back pocket, then so be it.

The state statutes explicitly state that if there is a conflict between the open meetings law and the state's legislative rules, the legislative rules take precedence.

The legislative rule on giving notice for conference committee votes (a rule written by Risser and Cullen, two of the 14 Dems that fled the state), states: "A notice of a committee meeting is not required other than posting on the legislative bulletin board."

That's it. No further argument is possible, if the state statutes and legislative rules govern this situation. Of course, the part about the legislative rules taking precedence over the state's open meetings law should be changed- nothing should be able to overrule the open meetings law. But the fact is that Sumi is legislating from the bench, and that is worse than the way the rules are written. The worst part is that the media is leaving out the precedence "stack" in reporting on this issue. The Republicans did nothing wrong, and followed the rules as they are currently written. Seriously- they're nearly all lawyers. Do you honestly think they'd have passed the bill this way if they weren't certain they could get away with it?

How did an article about Judge Sumi turn into a hit piece on Prosser? Don't get me wrong, I don't support Prosser and I think Sumi did the right thing by issuing the restraining order, but the two things have nothing to do with one another. ??? I swear the writers here at the Shepherd and over at OMC are on some 1 1=%u2206 shit.

I was just looking at the front page of the Waukesha Freeman today. Also recently in the JS. There always seems to be a picture of Prosser but none of Mrs. Klodhopper, or whatever her name is. I think we have the press on our side on this one. We are keeping her name out of the paper and off the TV. I'm sure Prosser will find a way to punish judge Sumi for her act of treason and not showing respect for our Governor's wishes. Just like the time we punished Paul Bucher in Waukesha for proscecuting a Packer. We suckered him into running for AG, make him think he was winning, and then BAM, not even close. Then we get the Milwaukee police chief to .... well you know the rest of that story.

@Jacob Clark: given the way the rules are written (you can find a complete breakdown at madison.com (WI State Journal), I'm interested in why you think Sumi did the right thing. I don't want to sound combative, but I guess I'm asking if you think she did the right thing simply because you agree with the outcome, and the actual laws can be disregarded to arrive at your desired outcome?

@djl- Either you're a lefty plant, seriously sarcastic, or you left your meds at the halfway house... Seriously- Ed Flynn's penis is part of the vast right wing conspiracy? Do you think Dick Cheney had a head-to-head conversation with Flynn's staff?

We just need to ignore what these judges say. Ignore restraining orders and such. Just steam roll right through and do as Gov Walkers wants. Just pretend the restraining order never existed. Just enforce the legislation the way the Gov intended it to be enforced. If we want to see a 1099 utopian society, we must lot let these things get in our way. We can't have unions and wacko judges medling in our business, telling us what to do.

I pledge allegence to Scott Walker, immortal leader of our cause. And to the capitalists principles for which he stands. Sacred and invincible.

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